The shadow side to a hyper-capitalist culture with a Protestant work-ethic is a profusion of escapes. Our "escapist culture" seeks solace in virtual worlds, food and drug addictions and sexual fantasies. I am a product of this culture and in many ways a poster child for it.

I'm writing this essay to understand how technology isolates me from my sensory experience and why I get so addicted to this feeling of (dis)connectedness.

Philosophical blog examines the nature of despair, disillusionment, and disenchantment.

This week the Novel of Life brings us to glittering Las Vegas, where Lethe grows anxious about returning to the Backpacker's Inn with the older man he has been hanging out with. In a desperate move, he flees from a poker table and runs through a labyrinthine casino at breakneck speed.

Podcast fiction delivers chapter eight, Mammon's House part two. A descent into the unknown.

This week's chapter of The Novel of Life takes us to Madrid, Spain, where Lethe Bashar follows a street up to the top of a hill and discovers a small gathering of festive Spaniards. Lethe sometimes leaves the Senora' apartment at night. He has a habit of going out to buy hashish. On this night however he sticks around the neighborhood and wanders the streets nearby. Upon witnessing the Spaniards, Lethe is struck by a longing to connect with people his age.